12 things to consider when writing a press release for construction products and 1 thing to do with it afterwards

Believe it or not a lot of construction product magazines charge you for printing your PR. It’s true! They call it a colour separation charge. As a result it really is up to you to get your PR right and properly engage with your potential customers. 

Here's a few pointers towards writing a successful press release.

1.      Proofread. Write your PR in word or similar to ensure that you’ve got the spelling and grammar right. There’s nothing worse than spotting a mistake in your release once it’s been printed.

2.      Get the headline right. This is the first thing that people read. Get this right and people will read what you have to say. Get it wrong and they won’t.

3.      Make sure you are in there. There’s no point in paying for PR and then not telling the potential reader who it’s from. It’s not editorial so you are OK to include your business and product names but make sure you’ve read 11.  

4.      Is it really news? Great. It’s a milestone for the company. One of your employees has ridden around the World backwards. You’re launching a brand new product. Brilliant. Get writing that press release. Oh, it’s just that you want some leads for your product so you are telling people about it, there’s no real news as such. That’s still OK. Many magazines have a product section and some are dedicated to products alone. Just remember to pick the magazines running features on areas of construction where your products are likely to be used and you will be fine.

5.      Is it on time?  I once saw a little PR that had the words see us at Ecobuild in the text. Trouble was Ecobuild (a UK construction exhibition) had happened the month before. On another occasion I read a little piece about an award someone had won which hadn’t officially been awarded yet. Remember your timings and check when the magazine will hit peoples desks and also what the shelf life is for it. I know of at least one magazine that sits around for at least a couple of months and is doled out at numerous shows.

6.      Remember the image. Now this is important. Without looking. What image is used on this post? See get it right and you’ll attract many more people towards your little cube of text on the page.

7.      Tell the world your story. What was that? You’ve been in business for how many years? Congratulations. Now go tell everyone.

8.      Don’t give everything away. Got a new product? Its great? Sucker people in. Tell them enough to entice them to interact with you. Offer them a brochure or catalogue or ask them to visit a webpage for more information. Give them too much and they will think they have all the info they need. They might do but they’re likely to forget it in 30 seconds. 

9.      Stick to the Facts: This one is simple. Tell the truth and don’t rubbish your competitors.

10.  Remember your word count. Yes you’ve paid for the PR but it only covers from 80 -120 words. This is quite important. If you’ve written 500 your release will get chopped up and served as a 120 word summary. The word count is different for many magazines. Check the count and alter yours before you send it over to the magazine. Otherwise someone who doesn't know your products will be altering it for you.

11.  Don’t use jargon. This is another simple one. Don’t use jargon and abbreviations unless you are absolutely sure people will know what you mean. Nobody likes to feel stupid or confused. If they do they will simply stop reading your PR. If you use product names make sure you explain what the product is.

12.  Think about your keywords. You’ll see why after reading the next point.

13.  Send it out to the world Use the free PR release sites online and promote it via social media and the news section of your website. See, now No12 makes sense doesn’t it? 

 If you don’t have the time to run your own PR campaign or you’d like some assistance with your PR then by all means get in touch. I’d be happy to help.

Marketing Construction products. Designing a PDF to Add value. It can be a golden opportunity to increase your business.

The first thing to sort out with any PDF is the look and the content.  Get these two things right and you are halfway there. But you also want to add value to your content don’t you? 

In the current market it’s vitally important to make your product or service the easiest to purchase or use.

Understanding your customer’s needs and applying this to your content will make all the difference, but you can add more than just content to a PDF. 

Have you ever sent a PDF to a client and really wanted to know if it has been read?

Maybe you wanted to know when they read it so that you could call them and discuss some part of it shortly after they had taken in the information. 

 Maybe you’ve lots of information you want the reader to access but don’t want to overload your PDF with it. Maybe the information, such as CAD drawings for architects, can’t be added to a PDF.

Then Gold PDF from BuildPR is a real way forward. 

With the GOLD PDF service from BuildPR track-able links are embedded into your PDF. These can be in the form of traditional written website text or as a button. As the number of clicks can be tracked the success of the document can also be assessed. The track-ability of the information can also allow you to see which of your products gains the most interest and even what time of day this happens. Not only that you can find out where in the world the document was opened giving you insight into its reach. You will be amazed at how far your document travels. 

And it’s not just new PDFs that can have links added. Links can be added to existing PDFs as well.

So if you are considering sending out your PDF to prospective clients consider its content and think about whether access to additional information can make the difference between loosing and winning that all important business.  

If you’d like to put links into your PDF, but don’t know how BuildPR can help. So get in touch or comment here. 

And make sure you check back next week when the topic is all about time and money.

Ins and outs of exhibiting

Well. What a week I've had. Plenty of time has been spent on my website this week. If I had to describe the style of the site it would be retro-clean. have a look for yourself and see what you think. Comments are always welcome. www.buildpr.co.uk

This week I've been working on getting a company to Ecobuild. Exhibiting anywhere is always much more difficult than you might think. Here's a couple of random tips to consider when planning for an exhibition.

1. So you know your products and all the techy words that describe them but do your customers? If your target is "consumers" consider the fact that they need great explanations of your products and services. Try using simpler words to describe the things you sell or explain what the techy phrase means. 
2. Always have a contingency plan for all aspects of the event. From ill staff to missing product. It can all have a detrimental effect on your success so try and plan for it. Often just doing this makes everything run a little smoother and shows up potential issues.
3. Give someone responsibility for planning and management. Often people do a great job when they have overall control. 
4. When designing your exhibition stand is the back wall necessarily the best place for your product or service info? Think about how people will approach your stand. You'll find that people walking down the corridor will see either the left or right walls or areas first. If you’re on the corner look at using it as well. It’s the first part of the stand your customer will see. Your stand might be larger and centrally placed but equally so getting a third party to look over the design might give you a better understanding of what people will see. Designing your stand in 3d and "walking" through the design really helps to get things in the right place.
5. Don't rely on the event managers to get your customers there. Do some work on getting prospects to attend your stand yourself. PR, direct mail, and advertising, if your budget can stretch to it, all have their part to play. 
6. Give people a reason or incentive to attend. This can really be anything. But think about what your customer might like. Put a sofa on the stand and ask people to come and relax with a coffee or similar. A simple coffee maker on the stand could be just the thing to attract your customers. 
7. Remember to put in place an after show plan. Can you handle all the leads yourself? Do you have enough literature? Who'll send it out and how will you follow it up?

Of course there is plenty more to consider. And if it all gets a little more than you can handle you can always get in contact with me and I'll be happy to help out. From initial design to manning the stand.